French Protesters Oppose Far-Right Shift Ahead of Snap Election: NPR

From Paris to Toulouse, about 300,000 people took to the streets of France on Saturday to urge voters to prevent the country’s far-right party from obtaining a majority in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

The elections are scheduled to be held in two rounds on June 30 and July 7.

The demonstrators are demonstrating against far-right leaders Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella, both of whom hold hard-line views on immigration, after the National Rally party made historic gains in the elections. European elections last weekend.

If the elections result in their favor, this will be the first time that France has had an extreme right-wing government since World War II.

In Paris, tens of thousands of people gathered in Place de la République He walked through eastern Paris. About 20,000 law enforcement officers were deployed in the city. The Associated Press reported. Many demonstrators took to the streets carrying anti-racism and pro-Palestinian messages.

In Nice, where Le Pen has gained significant support, police said about 2,500 demonstrators turned out to protest against the far right, according to the Associated Press.

Protesters gather against the far right in Paris, France on Saturday.

Laure Boyer/Hans Lukas/AFP via Getty Images

Hide caption

Toggle caption

Laure Boyer/Hans Lukas/AFP via Getty Images

Last weekend, the centrist Renewal Party led by President Emmanuel Macron was defeated in the European Union parliamentary elections by the far-right Le Pen party. The results showed that Macron’s party received 15% of the votes, while Le Pen’s party received about 32%.

In response, Macron dissolved the French parliament and called early elections – hoping to muster stronger support during his remaining three years as president.

The move was seen as a major gamble. If the far right wins a majority, Macron will effectively become president with a parliament and prime minister hostile to him.

With the aim of preventing the National Rally Party from winning the upcoming elections, the leftist parties announced on Friday Formed a coalitionThey put aside their differences over the wars in Gaza and Ukraine.

France’s political landscape has been deeply fragmented since the collapse of mainstream right-left parties several years ago. It comes as part of a larger trend in Europe – in recent EU elections, voters in the 27-nation bloc handed big gains to far-right parties.